Volcom Fiji Pro Round 2

Welcome back John John Florence ... The welcome return of the towheaded barrel freak who loves to throw it up there over dry reef.

“That’s the best the waves have been since I’ve been here,” Florence said. “The waves just turned on for my heat. Restaurants is just a perfect wave. It’s such a machine and with these winds every wave’s just perfect. You can really just sit in the barrel the whole way.”

“Restaurants is a perfect wave,” Joel Parkinson said. “It has a really good line to it and when you come over a set and see next one, you get butterflies when a good one is coming. I was looking for the barrels out there in that heat, but the bigger ones were chattery and bumpy. You’ve really got to find the medium sized waves out there. If you get the medium one you can get nice long drainers.”

“It’s extremely windy,” Smith said. “It was really tough to find the open barrels and when the sets came through the wave would barrel and pinch. You had to pick the right waves. I got lucky on one and managed to find a barrel and get two nice turns. Micro (Glenn Hall) did the full scorpion on his last wave and landed on the reef. Hopefully he’s okay. Overall, I had a few nice waves and I’m stoked to advance to the next round.”

Nat Young's agressive, attacking surfing is scaring the bejesus out of everyone

“Those could have been the best waves I’ve ever surfed,” Young said. “We’re sitting at pool on this perfect island so it’s pretty much paradise. For me, I’d never been here so it was important to come early and get practice at both spots (Cloudbreak and Restaurants). It was tough this morning with the devil winds and in that heat it was picture perfect. Right now, you just stand there and get the best barrels ever. It’s so much fun.”

Needing an 8.90 with just five seconds remaining on the clock, Zietz, drove through a seemingly impossible tube for an 8.93 and to edge out Ace.

“It was a small wave and I figured I’d go and try and get the score,” Zietz said. “I took off and thought I blew the heat. Then I had one section and I came out and I just tried to keep dragging it. I drove through that other section and was able to come out. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get the score or not.”

FIJI is beautiful and like all beautiful things it looks great from every angle - even if the devil wind is blowing. And blow it did, that SE which Cloudbreak loves until unrideable chunks fly up the face. Restaurants was also suffering but exits were just possible and high drama ensued at the Volcom Fiji Pro.

Highlight of the day was seeing Mr John John Florence return, the tow-headed barrel freak surfed three times, stuttering in Round 1 before dominating in Round 2 and 3. There's positive correlation between the top guys making tricky conditions look easy and he optimises that truism. Also it is just great to see him back in the water

“That’s the best the waves have been since I’ve been here,” Florence said. “The waves just turned on for my heat. Restaurants is just a perfect wave. It’s such a machine and with these winds every wave’s just perfect. You can really just sit in the barrel the whole way.”

Chris Cote described it as "dancing with Edward Scissor Hands" whipping down the line at Mach 5, skimming a reef of live fire coral whilst trying to stay attached to your board negotiating foot high ribs in a fast down-the-line barel. The surfers who won described it as the best barrel in the world.

We wanted Cloudbreak, we wanted the tour to redeem the status they lost last year. But here's a lesson: do not place your desire in anything which flies in the face of a trade wind, you will be remorselessly beaten down.

MSW Forecaster, Francisco, breaks down why this wind has been blowing so fiercely: "Normally this time of the year we'd expect to see a high pressure system located over Australia and an extensive low pressure system just a bit north of the Equator (above Fiji). That high pressure system, which was located over Australia, is moving towards New Zealand; a shift which directly impacts the wind conditions in Fiji. From this we are seeing an intensification of the trade winds, a situation expected to prevail for a few more days, and we should only expect a decrease in wind speed towards the end of the contest waiting period."